Crash victim remembered

Published
7:00 pm EST, Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Hosier, 50, was killed in a July 31 traffic crash close to her Lee Township home. She was driving a loud motorcycle with extra lights at both the front and back, but wasn't seen by a driver as he pulled from his driveway.

Deborah Hosier is gone, but her love, kindness and spunk haven't left the people who knew her best.

Hosier, 50, was killed in a July 31 traffic crash close to her Lee Township home. She was driving a loud motorcycle with extra lights at both the front and back, but wasn't seen by a driver as he pulled from his driveway.

Her husband, George, and daughter, Crystal, last week attended the last court date in her case, when the man responsible for her death was sentenced. Crystal showed an old family photo - her mom's warm smile stands out, her long blond hair in waves. Her daughter and two sons sit in front of her and George.

Deb was known for many things, among them her sense of humor, love for her family and friends, and giving spirit. She liked to crochet and could bake anything.

"She was big into buying things and sending them to other people," Crystal said, adding she saved Marlboro Miles to buy camping equipment for a friend who took motorcycle trips. George said his wife also made friends with people all around the world, one of them in Australia to whom she sent a doll.

"We still have stuff to send to finish what she started," he said.

"She tried very hard to make other people smile," Crystal said.

Part of that was just in taking the time to listen to make people feel better, George said.

Deborah also liked to play on the Internet, checking into chat rooms and paint rooms. George eventually bought her a computer of her own she could use to take care of their finances.

"It was like a hobby for her," he said.

"It was all my fault," Crystal admitted, adding she's the one who showed her mother how to use the Internet.

George laughed, remembering how they would e-mail little love notes to each other while they worked on their computers, while sitting in the same room.

The friends she made through the Internet also miss her, and dedicated a Web page in her memory. Ruby Marie, who considered Deborah her best friend without ever meeting her in person, communicated every night.

"She will always be in my heart and soul … Deborah was truly like a sister to me," she wrote.

"Debbie always had a smile on her face, anyone could tell by the way she typed," wrote Dawn Geer, another Internet friend.

George also made sure Deborah was happy.

"She was spoiled rotten," he said. "All she had to say was 'Baby,' and she got it."

For as sweet as she was, she's also remembered for other traits.

"She was feisty," Crystal said. "She could give it as good as she got it."

Both daughter and husband talked about Deborah learning to ride motorcycles, and her experience when she took a motorcycle safety class - she struck a cement barrier in a parking lot and was thrown over the bike.

She landed face down in the grass, worrying her friend, but rolled over laughing, and asked, "Did I pass?"

"She destroyed their motorcycle," George said. He then saw the same make and model bike as that one, bought it for her and told her she was gonna learn to ride.

When they dated, George would pull up on his motorcycle, she'd climb on the back "and we'd go riding." He was a long-haired, leather-wearing biker guy.

"It was love at first sight, I guess," he said. That love led to their marriage of nearly 33 years, a common interest in motorcycles and later their membership in the Christian Motorcycle Association.

"To me, it's not the same anymore, going by myself," he said.

Friend and coworker Dolores Wyman wrote that Deborah always spoke of her family and how happy she was.

"You could tell she and George were in love, and I know George is lost without her."

Deborah's father, Bob Brightsman of Harrison, said she was a daddy's girl when she was little, and had an intense love of animals. Horses were her favorite.

When the family built a house in Lake, she found a neighbor with horses and asked to help exercise them. "She'd ride it around the block a couple of times, that was big for her," he said.

Another time, she found a baby swallow and ran around catching bugs to feed it. The family later teased her about thinking she was a momma bird.